Alone in the Dark
by Dark-Shadow-Rider
Summary: After three years Chihiro returns to the spirit realm. Finally she reunites with Haku, and they get to have some fun, but things get a little scary when some not so great spirits get in the way.
1. Haunting of the Past

Alone in the Dark 

I do not own any Spirited Away characters nor will I ever except for the ones I make up. Which I will post later, because I don't want to give anything away… Sorry for any spelling errors which I make. Please review. Flames are ok, as long as they are not too terrible. Enjoy.

It was three years after Chihiro had left the spirit world. She wondered if Haku would keep his promise to return and see her. She thought that that was a silly idea. He couldn't possibly leave the spirit world. 'There are too many problems with that idea,' she always thought to herself. It wouldn't work. Some part of her wanted to believe it, but most of her didn't. She wished he could come back, but she couldn't make herself believe that he could actually return. As she walked away from school she heard the wind moan. It reminded her of the first time she encountered the strange building. 'That's funny…' she thought, almost beginning to become slightly afraid. There were no trees in the area, or anything else that could stop the wind. She stopped. There was no wind either! "I must be imagining things," she said aloud. "Sen!" she heard Lin's voice ring out around her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone. It almost looked like Lin too. She spun quickly around. Nothing was anywhere near her. 'I'm not too far from the schoolyard, maybe someone's following me and playing some kind of prank.' "Hello? If anyone's out there, this isn't funny!" She knew no one was out there though. She hadn't told anyone about her experiences in school. Something white flew through the air out of the corner of her eye. She tried to whirl around and see that it was Haku. They would finally be reunited and she'd talk to him for hours and hours. But nothing was there. Finally she ran towards her house.

Later…

She had been hallucinating things all day, and continually the visions came. She lie on her bed and tried to make sense of it. There was no logical explanation for any of this. She knew they really weren't there, but they looked so real, they sounded so real. She went to her mother. "Mom," she asked, "I'm having visions… of things that had happened in the past… people I knew…"

"Like what sweetie?" her mother inquired.

Chihiro tried to think of something to say. She didn't want to tell the truth, but she didn't like to lie. "My old friends," she quickly blurted out, not thinking of anything better to say. After all it was true. They were her friends. Her mom just wouldn't quite understand what she really meant.

"I understand dear. Sometimes things just haunt us in our minds, and usually it's hard to make them stop." She thought for a minute, and then replied, "Here I'll get you an old phone book and you can try and call some of their old numbers. Would that make you feel any better?"

"No, I think I just need to be alone for a little bit." She went into her room and shut the door. She couldn't take it anymore. Enough was enough. She grabbed some of her clothes and some more belongings and stuffed them into a bag. Then she stopped. If her mom was just out there, how could she get out without being noticed? After she considered all the facts, she decided to climb out her window. She reached over to the handle, unlatched it, swung it open quietly, and climbed out. She had made it. Now for the hard part. She swung her bag across her back and started on what would be, a long journey.

That's it for chapter one. Please, if you've read it, review. I'd like to know what to improve on. It is somewhat short, but the full story will be much longer than this.


	2. Entering Old Memories

**_Alone in the Dark_** Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still do not own any of the characters of Spirited Away except the ones I made up. I do own them, so please do not steal them without permission. Thank you. Again, please review. If you like it enough to read the second chapter, please say so.

It was a far destination, and not only that, but a storm was brewing. She'd have to follow the trail down the way to the forest, and go through the tunnel, then she'd have to cross the river before it became nightfall and the water rose. But what would she do first. She couldn't just walk up to the bathhouse and barge in saying "I'm back!" It wouldn't be very good, because Yubaba might get mad, or maybe she would get in trouble for coming back. Her imagination ran wild as she thought about all the things that could go wrong. She couldn't turn back though. She had been walking for about fifteen minutes. The area all around her was eerily quiet. It wasn't usually this quiet. People bustling all about the nearby park, having fun with their relatives and neighbors. She glanced at it through the trees. It was empty. She turned away, and continued to walk along the path. The wind had begun to blow. Not the moaning sound, but a sound almost like whistling, as the wind blew speedily throughout the many trees that lay ahead. She passed the little houses as she walked. She didn't really enjoy them being there, as they made her self-conscious, almost as if she was invading their privacy. She shuddered. Once or twice she thought she saw something poke its head out of one, but she didn't dare to look at what might lie inside. Finally, after some time of walking, she came to the large building. It's forlorn appearance made most onlookers somewhat nervous to approach it. Sadly, it had been standing for quite some time now, and was looking even more abused then the last time she had seen it. She entered it with some relief of almost being to her destination. She turned and took a last look at what she would see of the outside of her world. A dark cloud hovered above her. She hoped it wasn't an omen. A bad omen.

As she walked through the main room, she thought of the first impressions that the room first made on her. Kind of creepy. Now it seemed strangely… comforting. She proceeded through the tunnel out into the large plain. The grass looked like a vast sea of green as it waved through with the wind. She smiled. For once, she was excited to have all these previous memories flow through her head. All the good times she had here, and some of the bad reviewed through her head like she was watching a video of her own life. She started running. She didn't quite know what for. Maybe excitement, maybe anxiety. She wasn't sure. She ran anyway though. Just to get there. She wasn't sure what she would do either.

She walked up to the bridge that separated her from the bathhouse. She remembered the first time she saw Haku. She wondered if he were inside the very building in front of her. Excitement welled up inside her. Maybe she would just wait out here for him. Night was approaching, so she wouldn't have to wait very long. "Chihiro!" a familiar voice rose up around her. She thought it was probably just another hallucination, but she looked behind her anyway. Haku, in the flesh, was standing about six feet behind her.

"Haku!" she cried out. She ran toward him. He wrapped his hands around her. "Oh Haku it's been so long! I was beginning to think I'd never see you again, so I decided to come back. I hope you're not mad."

"Nonsense, Chihiro," his voice sounded so calm and soothing, "You're expected…"

There's the end of chapter two. Please review I'm sorry I keep repeating this, but I would really like the help. I'm going to wait for some reviews before I continue.


	3. The Big News

**_Alone in the Dark _**Chapter Three

I do not still nor I will ever own any Spirited Away characters. Only the fictional ones I made, which I can still not mention anything about them… you'll just have to wait. Please review. Ok, so maybe I said I wouldn't update for a while, but I just couldn't wait. At least it will keep the impatient people satisfied.

"Expected?" Chihiro said in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"All those visions, those hallucinations, I was calling you back here," Haku replied.

"You! It was you?" Chihiro burst out. Haku stepped back. "I can't believe you would do such a thing! You took me away from my parents! I imagine they're really worried about me right now, and all because of you!" Chihiro looked at Haku's face. He was extremely shocked and he had turned slightly pale. She was almost in tears. She ran to the middle of the bridge, stopped, and looked out off into the vast land.

Haku waited a few minutes, then slowly approached her. "I'm sorry Chihiro. I didn't mean for it to… to hurt you." He paused. "I really am glad you're here though. If it makes you feel any better, I had already put a spell on the human world. Time is frozen there now, and will be until you leave."

She paused. "It's exactly how it looked when I left."

Haku agreed, "Not much has changed since you left."

She continued, "Thanks for bringing me here. I really am happy that I got to come back."

Haku waited a few minutes, allowing her to see all that lay ahead. "Come on inside. I have a surprise." He smiled, and grabbed her hand. He lead her into the bathhouse.

As they went in, Chihiro noticed one peculiar thing. It was empty! She took a peek outside. It was almost nightfall. She thought it as somewhat strange. The busy bathhouse, now completely empty. "It's past nightfall, where is everyone?" she asked.

"Gone." Haku said. His voice sounded excited. "That's the big surprise!"

She looked surprised, almost confused. Haku laughed. "I found a job, and I managed to make a pretty penny." She noticed how he left out some of the details. The strangest ones. 'Haku isn't a thief anymore. He never was too. But what's he leaving out?' Chihiro flashed back to reality, just as Haku ended a sentence. "So, what do you think?"

"Uhh… umm…" Chihiro's face turned red. "Could you repeat that please? Sorry, I kind of zoned out…"

He smiled. "That's okay. I'll just tell you again. I managed to rent out the whole bathhouse for a night! No distractions, and any kind of fun we could want. A kitchen, elevators, we could do anything! No one's here except us! Isn't that great Chihiro?"

"Yes it is but, where did everyone go?" she asked him.

"I managed to earn enough to pay Yubaba to have all of the staff get a day off. They were all sent to another bathhouse through the train. It did cost a lot, and it was a little difficult arranging all the transportation, but it was worth it right?"

She paused. Haku looked at her face. She almost looked nervous. "Chihiro, are you alright?"

She looked up, "What if something goes wrong?"

Haku tried to reassure her. "Like what? Nothing will go wrong, because there's nothing that can go wrong. Besides, if anything were to happen, I'm here to protect you."

She smiled. "I guess you're right." She smiled even bigger, gleaming with excitement. "Now about that racecourse…"

There's the end of chapter three. Please review, if you've made it this far, you must be at least a little interested. Right… Chapter four's on the way soon.


	4. Ghosts

**_Alone in the Dark _**Chapter Four

Wow! Chapter four already! That's gone by fast. Truth is, I'm so lazy, I'm doing as much as I can in one night so I don't forget to update later like all my other stories. It's kind of sad… Oh well. I don't own any characters from Spirited Away, except the ones I make up. Almost getting to the point where they… oh never mind. I can't tell… yet…

Haku stood in front of the board like a general, going through the plans. "We will start in the boiler room. Then we will go through the sliding door and through the main room in there. From there we will go up through all the elevators in the right order and come out in Yubaba's office. You understand?"

"I think so." Chihiro nodded.

"Alright then," Haku started to get up, "Let's get into our positions."

Chihiro nodded. She got up and started toward the boiler room. She stopped when she noticed Haku wasn't moving. His face was pale. He looked afraid. "Haku? Is everything alright?"

His face regained its color and was back to normal. He glanced at Chihiro. "Fine, everything's fine." He lied. 'No it's not,' he thought. 'Something is definitely wrong.' He started out the room anyway, hoping things would be alright…

(Author's note: I would have stopped there, but then the chapter would have been way too short. I'll go on. Just pretend that there was a break there or something.)

"All right then, on your marks, get set…" he had a dramatic pause… "GO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. They both started off at the starting line. Haku was going easy on Chihiro, and she knew it, but they both were having fun anyway. They zipped around everything was going pretty smoothly until they made it almost to the top. They were about to cross the long bridge that spanned the top of the bathhouse. They began to cross it, and with Haku in the lead. He managed to make it across, and then turned around to see how far behind Chihiro was. To his awe, he saw her running across the bridge, when the top gave in and she fell off the top. She managed to grab the edge of the bridge. Haku flew to the top of the bridge as fast as he could. Right when he was just within reaching range, she couldn't hold on any more to the rigid edge, and she began to fall to her doom. Her scream echoed throughout the large bathhouse. "Chihiro!" Haku yelled. Everything seemed to move in slow motion to her as she fell.

'Well, this is the end I guess,' she thought. 'I just hope when I hit the ground it's not too painful.' She braced herself for the fall. But it never came. A flying object came straight into her, pushing her with it across the gap into the nearest wall. It was somewhat painful, but not as painful as falling extremely fast into the top of a screen or a solid bathtub wall or floor. When she realized someone just saved her she panicked. Who could have done it? She was relieved when she saw that it was Haku.

"Haku, what's going on?" she asked. She was becoming to be more afraid than she had been the whole night.

She was hoping he knew, but disappointed when he said, "I'm not sure. I won't go into everything I know, I don't want to scare you."

"It's okay. I want to know."

" Well, Haku went on, "I can feel a presence. It is extremely strong, and up to no good. In fact, if you really want to know, I feel several."

"What can we do?" Chihiro asked. She tried to act as normal as possible, but it was almost impossible to conceal the fact that she was in shock, genuine shock.

"I'm not sure…" Haku's face hardened, "But whoever it is, they're in for a lot of hurt. I'm not going to let anything happen to you Chihiro. Ever."

Chihiro was still unsure, but knowing Haku was with her helped her to stay calmer than she would have been alone.

They continued to walk back to Yubaba's chambers. As they were almost there, Haku's senses were jolted. Something was close to them. He began to look around for any danger. The lights flickered, then went out. Haku drew a dagger he had concealed. He heard Chihiro scream a bloodcurdling scream. He was hit in the head with something big and heavy. He senses were immediately jolted with an amazing amount of pain. He recovered from the blow quickly. He stood up, still unable to see much around him. The lights flickered again, and then turned back on. Haku couldn't see much, the concussion to his head made him dizzy. He looked around for a moment. Chihiro was no where to be seen. His head throbbed constantly. "Chihiro!" he yelled out. He couldn't take the pain any longer. He collapsed from pain onto the floor.

Now I'm getting to the dramatic part. Sorry to leave everyone hanging, but I'm going to relax a little. Please review. I'm still not going to post any extra names at the top, not for a little bit. This story is going to be quite long for something I write…

Dark-Shadow-Rider


	5. Family Feud

**_Alone in the Dark _**Chapter Five

Lots of thanks to DeityofLostSouls. Finally a review! I'll try to go into more detail in the chapters to make them longer. It's just that… I like leaving at the dramatic parts. It is great fun to do that. Again, I do not own any Spirited Away characters. Don't steal the ones I make up. They're mine! Enjoy the next chapter.

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Haku woke up. He forgot where he was, and what he was doing. Then, everything flashed back to him. And worse than that, more blindingly terrible pain returned to the back of his skull. He felt back there and felt a huge bump, and he felt a trickle of blood flow slowly down the back of his head. He looked around and found a towel near him. He grabbed it and pressed it against the gash. He held it there, even though it caused him even more pain, but it was better for it to stop bleeding. He paused. He started to go through exactly what happened before he fell unconscious. 'I remember that the lights went out, and I was hit with something heavy. And Chihiro, she was… gone. I have to find her, and fast. Whoever did it is very powerful. Wait a minute.' He started to talk out loud. "I fell unconscious at the top of the bathhouse. Someone had to have carried me down here." He began thinking. "But why?" I have to get to the bottom of this. He ran off into the dark corridors. He was headed toward Yubaba's chambers.

After several minutes of running, he stopped to check his gash. It had stopped bleeding, but still hurt. He dropped the towel and continued on. He ran until he came to the bridge. "I can't risk it," he decided. He hovered above the ground across the bridge. Then he stopped hovering and hit the ground. He saw his own blood hardened on the floor. He bled quite a bit more than he imagined. It made him almost uncomfortable. He continued up the elevator two floors and emerged out into Yubaba's main hallway. The silence was nerve-racking. He continued on through the main door. The lights were all on. Someone was inside. He proceeded on very cautiously, ready for just about anything. He heard a laugh of in the distance. Through each room he proceeded the doors shut and the lights flickered out. Whoever this was they were a master at tricks. Haku just hoped that they wouldn't get too serious and have someone actually get fatally hurt. He felt that the gash in his head wasn't very bad. In fact, the pain was already decreasing. Haku entered Yubaba's office. The chair inside was turned around and he knew someone was in it. He just didn't know who. A low voice rang out, "To whom do I owe this visit," said a familiar voice. Haku was surprised. It sounded like Yubaba's voice. The chair spun around, and Haku was extremely in awe when he saw that it was Yubaba that was in the chair.

"What are you doing here?" Haku asked her.

"Why simply relaxing and enjoying a beautiful night." Yubaba replied. She smiled a very wicked looking smile.

Haku knew something wasn't quite right. He used an revealing spell that could get through almost any disguise. The face of Yubaba disappeared, and a new face appeared. It was a familiar one of Haku. It was a boy's face, almost identical to Haku's but looked a few years older. "Hello, brother." Haku muttered. The face smiled.

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Chihiro sat up. She wished she could speak, for she didn't know where she was or why. She remembered being grabbed and hit on the head with something blunt. She didn't become unconscious quite then, but she remembered she was dragged somewhere. The she fainted, and now she had no clue where she was. She was tied up and gagged. Luckily it was loosely, and she squirmed and was able to get her hands free. She was glad too, because she was in a very uncomfortable position. She pulled off the gag over her mouth, and was finally able to talk again. She didn't though. First she wanted to find out where she was. It felt like she was in the middle of a huge bundle. She untied her legs and came to the top of the bundle. She was surprised when she saw that she was in a pile of pillows in Yubaba's baby's room. "Why am I here?" she asked quietly. "Why would someone drag me here?" She stopped and looked around. The room had torn fabric everywhere, and was a huge wreck. The ceiling rotator was stuck and several parts of it were broken. She gasped in amazement. "Who could have done this?" she wondered. She decided to be as quiet as she could and investigate. She walked out of the room and continued down the mirrored hallway. The hallways were dim, but they weren't destroyed and torn up like the last room. She explored a little down the hallways, and then stopped. She heard something. No, she heard someone. Someone talking in a room not too far from where she was. She tiptoed extremely quietly to the edge of Yubaba's office, for that was where she thought she heard the talking. She peeked around the corner and looked inside. She saw Haku and another boy circling each other. They were talking quietly but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. She cupped her hands around her ear and listened again. She heard the other boy talking.

"You're a thief Haku, and everyone I know knows it. Father told me to punish you terribly." He stated.

"I did not steal anything," Haku replied to him.

"Look money became missing from our family, and you had just struck it rich apparently. Everyone thinks it is you, and so do I. Word spread quickly that you were here alone, so I brought along a few of my buddies for your punishment. Stage one is already complete. Unluckily for you, stage two is much worse. Much worse indeed."

An evil smile appeared on his face. "He isn't a thief," Chihiro said quietly, "Haku would never steal anything." Sadly she forgot to be whispering, and to even her surprise she said it a little louder than her comfort zone allowed.

The older boy looked over at Chihiro, as so did Haku, for they both heard her. Haku was horrified. She looked in terrible condition. "Ah, looks like my next target just woke up," the older one said with a grin at Haku.

"No!" Haku yelled after him. He grabbed his knife. His brother was faster. He took out a knife of his own, and slashed Haku's face with it, and a long trickle of blood began to trickle down his face. He uttered in pain as his brother took off, he ran to Chihiro grabbed her, and carried her into a different room.

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There's the end of chapter two. Quite a stretch compared to the other chapters. Again, and I'm sorry I have to keep writing this but please review my story. I'm a little short on them. I need to know what to improve on. Total of words in this single chapter: 1,400 words.

Dark-Shadow-Rider


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